The history of
cerdd dafod can be traced to 6th-century Welsh poets such as
Aneirin and
Taliesin, but is probably much older. Studies also suggest that features of this form of poetry are comparable to the ancient Irish versifications and therefore point to an older shared
Celtic inheritance. In it, he lists 24 canonical metres used for all poems in the writing of
cerdd dafod. This was later revised by
Dafydd ab Edmwnd who, at an
eisteddfod held at
Carmarthen around 1450, changed two of Einion's metres to two more complicated versions of his own. These changes were adopted by future competitions as the preferred canon. This was brought about after his desire to see a return to traditional poetry and use of strict metre in
eistedfoddau. The end of the 20th century saw a renaissance in
cerdd dafod, especially in the metres known as
englyn and
cywydd, attributed to the poet
Alan Llwyd. ==Notes==